Hello and welcome to the Lost Medals Australia blog. On this blog I will tell the stories of our research and successes in returning lost medals to veterans of their families. I also hope that this blog will provide the best resource for understanding how to research Australian medals. If you need help please contacted me via email at

28 August 2016

Another story that doesn't do justice to the full circumstances and the research that went in to finding this family.

Shortly
after 0400 on 20 December 1915, the last Australians left Gallipoli, among
those to leave was the 8th Battalion, 1st A.I.F.

Seven
months later on the 26th July 1916, the battalion would again go
into battle, this time spearheading the assault on the German lines at
Pozieres.

Gallipoli
always comes to the fore when any discussion takes place concerning WWI.
Gallipoli with its 29,000 casualties in eight months, yet at Pozieres,
Australian casualties would amount to 36,960 in the 6 weeks from 16 July to 13
August 1916, as the battle ground on, and German artillery, took a dreadful
toll.

This was
battle that would prompt Australian WWI correspondent Charles Bean to report
that the Pozieres Ridge was "more densely sown with Australian sacrifice
than any other place on Earth".

But the
losses at Pozieres and Fromelles some days before, were to have a lasting
influence as the scale of losses became known to those living in Australia. It
would trigger much of the subsequent conscription debate and the failure of the
Australian Government to have conscription accepted by the Australian people.

At the
request of the two families involved, I have not included the search details,
either of John, who found the medals and plaque and spent considerable time
trying to locate Leslie’s surviving family.

Recently,
I was able to email to John the contact details of Michael, the grandson of
Leslie’s brother James, who also fought in WWI.

In the
coming months John will travel from Brisbane to Avoca in Victoria, to pass the
medals and Leslie’s memorial plaque to Michael. To hold on behalf of and in
memory of his Great Uncle Private Leslie Reginald Yates.

There is very little to this story from Bill but what we can tell speaks volumes.

When Edward
Reuben Thompson died in 1938, his medals and the souvenirs, including letters
to his wife, written during his military service were lost to his family.

Some time
ago the Victorian Police recovered one of his long missing medals, how and
where they cannot say, but to Edward’s daughter Beryl it doesn’t matter. Ten
years old when her father was killed, she grew up always wondering what happened
to her Dad’s medals, and while I could not tell her where they have been, what
I was able to tell her this morning is that her father’s 1914-1918 War Medal is
waiting for her and her son at a Victorian Police Station.

To the officers of
Victoria Police who recovered the medal and to Kaye and Scott, also of the
Victorian Police, on behalf of a veteran’s 86 year old daughter, thank
you.

24 August 2016

Our latest return does not differ greatly from several returns I have handled this month.

However, due to the circumstances and to protect the anonymity of the ex-serviceman whose items they are, Glyn and I have followed our rule,
of refraining from writing any details about the veteran, nor how we
came to finally find him.

Some times the story of the medal is just as intriguing than the solider. This British War Medal was found 20 years ago by Matt and Jo and as can be seen in the pictures it has had a rough life. It looks like it was run over or churned up by a mower.
The soldier was 240 John (Jack) Gerard Kiniry who served in the 3rd Pioneer Battalion. Jack was from a Irish Catholic family who produced many priests and nuns. He did marry but had no children with his wife Mary. A letter that Jack wrote to his uncle was reproduced in a newspaper and I found it on Trove. I've included it below.
Like many families of the time they became extinct despite being quite large. I happened across a family tree which included the Kiniry family but the line was down Jack's mother's branch. The tree owner has kindly accepted custodianship of Jack's medal.
Thanks to Jo and Matt for sending me the medal.
The returned medal tally is now 1896.

23 August 2016

Over
the years Glyn and I have developed a close relationship with the various State
Police Forces. Quite often we are the first port of call when it comes to
returning medals that they have seized. However, with that relationship has
come the responsibility of limiting what we can say either about how the medals
were recovered or how we were able to return them.

Also we owe the people to whom medals have been
returned, a responsibility to respect their privacy. Accordingly the next few
returns I will be posting will fall under this mantle. Other than to say
well done John, Shaun, Ante and thank you for your trust, there is little more
that I can add.